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It’s like the sweet onion chutneys you might buy from the shops to go with your Indian food — except more delicious and more satisfying because it came from your own kitchen! Prep some clean jars and get ready to start gifting onion jam for Christmas.

You will need

Makes 1

  • 4 red onions, thinly sliced
  • 150 ml vegetable oil
  • 6 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tablespoon Kashmiri chilli
  • 2 tablespoon gochugaru (you can sub gochujang paste if needed)
  • 3 teaspoons coriander seeds
  • 3 teaspoons cumin seeds
  • 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
  • 2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
  • 2 tablespoons black mustard seeds
  • 20 curry leaves
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar

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Directions

5 mins to prep

30 mins to cook

  1. Step 1

    Cut the onion in half and take off the outer skin. Then slice them all thinly.

  2. Step 2

    Place the oil in a large saucepan, adding the onion, diced garlic and cinnamon stick. Cook on medium-low so as to not crisp them up too much but get a mixture of browned onion and fried onion. This will take about 20 minutes.

  3. Step 3

    Dry roast the whole seeds then grind them into a powder*, adding them to the two chilli powders. When the onion has reached a nice brown colour, add the spice mix and curry leaves. Cook again for another 5 minutes.

  4. Step 4

    Finally, add the brown sugar and stir through for a minute to combine. Turn off the heat and place in jars. Enjoy with curries, stir fries, veggie bowls, rice dishes, go wild!

Variation

*Alternatively, you can just chuck all the seeds, chillies, and spices straight into the pan as-is, if you like a more rustic texture in your finished jam!

Recipe: Simon Toohey